Deserion's right. The reason for this is that the North American market is the main market for the New Beetle, and it wasn't cost-effective for them to assemble them in Germany, too. Hella, the famous European headlight company even has a factory next to the plant--if you look at say my '97 Jetta's tail lights, they say, "Hella Mexico" on them. VW of Mexico assembles VWs to the same standards as the VWs made in Germany. Top Gear or Car (one of those British mags) wrote an article on the plant back in 1998 during the release of the New Beetle. A college friend of mine went to Puebla in 2000 for a junior year foreign studies program through our school, and took a tour of the factory. He snuck his digital camera into the plant. That was when they were still making the classic air-cooled Bug alongside the NB. How much trouble will I get in if I post a couple of pics? Stay tuned...I have to get them off of my ancient Power Mac (pre-iMac) that I had throughout college and get them onto my current computer.